Lowering student Metro fares and improving campus safety were the main topics discussed at a District of Columbia Metropolitan University Student Alliance meeting Saturday in the Butler Board Room attended by Student government representatives from five D.C. area colleges. This was the organization's second meeting for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Joe Vidulich, Undergraduate Senate Speaker Caitlin Hodgkins and Nick Troiano, a senator for the class of 2011 and Eagle photographer and podcaster, represented AU at the meeting. Representatives from George Washington University, George Mason University, Marymount University and the University of Maryland, College Park were also present.
Kyle Boyer, assistant vice president of community affairs for the GW Student Association, said he has been working for about a year on reducing Metro fares for students in the D.C. area.
Boyer asked the student leaders to encourage their fellow students to attend a Feb. 6 meeting of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Riders' Advisory Council, a group of Metro riders appointed by the Metro board of directors that makes non-binding recommendations regarding Metro policies. Boyer said he will present a letter to the RAC at that meeting to advocate for a student Metro fare reduction.
If a sizable group of students from colleges across the D.C. area accompanies him, it will emphasize the importance of this issue to students throughout the area, he said.
"D.C. area student governments have never collaborated on a project of this magnitude, and with over 145,000 of us and only 21 [RAC members], we have to establish our significance as a base of ridership," Boyer said.
Students interested in attending the RAC meeting and expressing support for the student Metro fare reduction should arrive at WMATA headquarters in the Jackson Graham Building at 600 Fifth St., located near the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop, at 6:20 p.m., according to Boyer.
Boyer said he will present the letter at the beginning of the meeting when the floor is open for public comment.
DCMUSA meetings provide a forum for student leaders of colleges in the D.C. area that allows them to collaborate on improving the lives of their students, Vidulich said.
"We're not unique in the region; if you pick up a copy of the [GW] Hatchet you'll find the same things are going on there," Vidulich said. "They're dealing with rape and hate crimes on their campus, and we're dealing with diversity and sexual assault. The issues that affect our students unite us far more than they divide us, and it's refreshing to have an educated discussion with student leaders about the issues of the day."
The student leaders also compared campus alcohol policies in order to try to improve alcohol policies on their individual campuses.
Nicole Kukuruda, a student senator at GMU, said the penalties for alcohol policy violations at her college are more serious than those at AU because they can involve actions taken by the state.
"If person who's calling appears to be intoxicated as well ... it's likely they will receive an alcohol violation from the school and [Virginia]," Kukuruda said. "You don't just get a school violation - you get community service, and you can also get a license revocation if you're under 21"
